Information Technology Blog

Internet Explorer users with the Windows XP operating system need to practice caution around web sites that prompt them to press the F1 key (the key for Help) due to a new vulnerability that has been discovered in Internet Explorer. The vulnerability would allow a hacker to highjack your PC if you press F1 when prompted on a malicious web site.

Microsoft issued a security advisory on Monday. According to the advisory, “Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a vulnerability in VBScript that is exposed on supported versions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 through the use of Internet Explorer. Our investigation has shown that the vulnerability cannot be exploited on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008. The main impact of the vulnerability is remote code execution.”

According to this article from Computerworld, Microsoft acknowledged that Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 users are all at risk.

The article also states that Microsoft has not set a timeline for the fix. The next scheduled security patch from Microsoft is due to be released on March 9.

Until that time, it is highly recommended that Windows XP users do not press the F1 key while using Internet Explorer.

Are you finding it difficult to keep your systems up to date with vital fixes like the one described above? Skoda Minotti’s maintainIT is a comprehensive managed solution that ensures your computer network is being proactively maintained, including installation of Microsoft Updates, by our IT professionals.  For more information on maintainIT or the rest of our Information Technology Services, contact one of our IT service professionals at 440-605-7280.

Tips 6-10 in our Windows 7 tips series are below. See yesterday’s post for tips 1-5.

Tip 6: Managing Your Windows

•Windows 7 simplifies document and program management by allowing you to “dock” a window or manipulate its size with one mouse maneuver or a simple keystroke.

•To dock your window on one half of the screen, drag it to the left or right and it will change its size to fit that half of the screen.

- To manipulate the vertical size of a window, drag the window to the top to maximize it, or double-click the window’s top or bottom border to maximize it vertically while keeping the same width.

Tip 7: Help the Help Desk Help You

• Solving problems unique to a machine can be an arduous task for both the end-user and the help desk.

• Windows 7 introduces the Problem Steps Recorder, a screen-capture tool that allows the end-user to record the problems they’re having step-by-step.

• The program is accessible from the Control Panel under “Record steps to reproduce a problem” or run psr.exe from Explorer.

• Hit “record” the add in comments as needed. A HTML-based file is converted to a .ZIP folder, which is easily passed on to the help desk.

Tip 8: Sticky Notes Avoid Sticky Situations

• Instead of using paper, use Windows 7 Sticky Notes. Enjoy the variety of seven fun Sticky Note colors by right-clicking the note.

• Need another sticky note reminder? Click the + sign in the top left corner of the existing note to create a new one. To access Sticky Notes, run StikyNot.exe or click Start → All Programs → Accessories → Sticky Notes.

Tip 9: Keep your Data Secure

• BitLocker protection on removable drives is known as BitLocker To Go. When a BitLocker-protected removable drive is unlocked on a computer running Windows 7, the drive is automatically recognized and the user is either prompted for credentials to unlock the drive or the drive is unlocked automatically if configured to do so.

Tip 10: Shake It Up

• Remember the Etch-a-Sketch where you would shake it to make things disappear?
Windows 7 uses the same shake concept to help you manage your windows.

• Windows 7 Aero®Shake allows you to clear the inactive windows from your desktop by “shaking” over the window you’re working. Hover your mouse over the title bar of your active window, left-click and shake from side to side, and all your inactive windows will disappear.

• To bring them back, repeat the procedure and shake everything back into view.

For more information about how we can help your organization transition to Windows 7, please contact Tim Heikkila of our Information Technology Services Group at 440-449-6800.

Microsoft released its 7^th version of the Windows Desktop operating system back on October 22^nd.  Although it is the 7^th version of Windows this number is a little deceiving because there have actually been 25 versions released.  Starting with Windows 1.0 then 2.0, Microsoft release three versions in 3 (3.0, 3.11 & NT).  The first version was released in 1985 but that is enough of the history lesson.

Many of us in the technology industry held our breath to see how Windows 7 would perform in the business environment.  My first response would be “so far, so good”.  Unlike some of the previous bombs like Vista and ME, Microsoft did their homework and created a much more stable operating system that performs quick and user friendly.  I wanted to share my top 10 new feature with Windows 7. 

Tip 1-5 are listed below, click here for Tips 6-10.  

Tip 1: Change the Scenery

•Windows 7 allows you to personalize your desktop background with a new shuffle feature for your desktop.

•You can program your desktop background to shuffle through your favorite images and get a change of scenery as often as you like.

•To enable the shuffle feature, right click on your Desktop and select “Personalize,” then “Desktop Background.” Choose the folder where your favorite images or photos are stored and select as many as you like. Make sure you check the “Shuffle” box, and choose how often you’d like your images to shuffle.

Tip 2: Stay One Click Away From the Programs You Use Most

•You can pin the programs you use most on your taskbar so that you can access them with one click.

•Hover your cursor over the favorite program and drag it to the taskbar, or

•Right click on it and choose “ pin to taskbar”.

•Your program will then be pinned to the taskbar. To open the program, just click on the icon on your taskbar. You can unpin any program at any time.

Tip 3: Keep What You Want Within Easy Reach

•Jump Lists in Windows 7 will help you keep your desktop free of clutter and find files quickly. They’re automatically populated based on how often and how recently you do things, so you’ll spend less time looking for your favorite song or the document you worked on yesterday.

•There’s a Jump List for each program on your Start menu and taskbar.

•With one click you can:

•See frequently and recently viewed Web sites on the Jump List for Internet  Explorer ® 8.

•Drag and drop a file from the Jump List into Outlook ® as an attachment.

•See options to play a recent song or a playlist on the Jump List for Windows Media ® Player.

Tip 4: Aero Peek Your Desktop

• A versatile tool introduced with Windows 7 is the Windows® Aero® feature, “Aero Peek”.

• Click the rectangle in the lower right hand corner of the task bar for quick access to your desktop.

• The keyboard shortcut (Windows key) + Spacebar performs the same function.

Tip 5: Notify Me, My Way

•Windows 7 helps solve more problems, and, solve them on your schedule.

•The Action Center is a new, integrated Control Panel experience that provides a central place to go for tasks and notifications associated with keeping your computer running smoothly.
•You’ll see fewer notifications on your desktop because the Action Center consolidates alerts from ten existing Windows features.

•When Windows 7 needs your attention, you’ll see a new icon in the notification area.

•To find out more, click the icon to see a menu that offers options for directly addressing the issue, or you can go to the Action Center for more details.

•In addition, you can choose which notifications you’re interested in hearing about.

•From the Control Panel go to System Security Action Center and click the “Change Action Center settings” link on the left to choose which alerts to receive.

Click here for tips 6-10. For more information about how we can help your organization transition to Windows 7, please contact Tim Heikkila of our Information Technology Services Group at 440-449-6800.

One of the most dangerous aspects of using wireless networks is exposing yourself to what is known as a “man-in-the middle” attack. It is something you’ll want to consider before you send personal information over a free wireless network at a local coffee shop.

It basically works like this: Two parties communicate with each other over a network. A third party, unknown to the other two, intercepts a message, reads it, redirects it to someone else, or changes the content. If successful, all communications between the two parties flow through the attacker's computer without the knowledge of the users themselves.

There are several precautions you can implement to protect yourself from this type of attack.

• Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

• Limit transactions over wireless networks
• Keep connection times short

• Check for the secure connection icon
   

Click here for more details on each of these precautions.

For more information on Skoda Minotti Information Technology Services, contact Tim Heikkila at 440-449-6800 or visit our web site.

If you are like many mobile phone users, you have been subject to annoying spam messages sent to your phone. Looking for an easy way to get rid of these messages?

This article provides a handy guide for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon users who would like to block spam messages on their phones.

While the problem is not extremely widespread in the US just yet, many international users receive multiple mobile spam messages each day. Follow the directions in the article to stop your mobile spam problems before they really get out of control.

For more information on Skoda Minotti Information Technology Services, contact Tim Heikkila at 440-449-6800 or visit our web site at:

http://www.skodaminotti.com/Services/Informationtechnology/.

Topics: Cleveland Telephone System, Cleveland Information Technology